‘Outlander’ Season 2 Spoilers: How Black Jack Will Affect Jamie And Claire’s Marriage In The 2016 Episodes

Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) will have some marital problems when “Outlander” Season 2 premieres. Photo: Starz

Capt. Black Jack Randall isn’t a man anyone can easily forget. Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) may have left him for dead in Season 1 of “Outlander,” but moving on from what he did will be difficult for the couple in Season 2 of the Starz drama. The actors recently teased that, despite going to France, the villain will still affect their relationship.

At the end of Season 1, Jamie was tortured and raped by Black Jack. Though Claire saved him, he’ll still be recovering from that trauma. “You don’t get over something like that right away,” Heughan explained to TV Insider. “Jamie can physically deal with the scarring, the whippings, the wounds. But mentally, no. He’s not talking about it. Instead, he’s busying himself with the mission of the day — and getting drunk. This breaks him and Claire apart.”

But it doesn’t seem like the damage to his relationship will be permanent. Their marriage will go through a rough patch, but Heughan hinted that the Jamie and Claire will get back on track eventually. “They’re not connecting,” the actor explained. “It takes some pretty strong words to get back there. It takes a few episodes.”

Don’t worry, “Outlander” fans. Jamie will even be like his old self again. It’ll take a little more than time, though. Heughan previously teased that something will push Jamie to move on. “I think time is a great healer,” he told Collider in January. “But ultimately, he puts his whole body and soul into this mission about changing history, and then there is a great revelation that kind of cures him or brings him out of himself, which I can’t really tell you what that is, but it certainly brings back the old Jamie.”

[Spoiler Alert: Book spoilers for “Dragonfly in Amber” are below.]

What could that “great revelation” be? It might be related to a duel. Book readers know that Jamie will have to confront his rapist soon. The second season is based on Diana Gabaldon’s “Dragonfly in Amber,” and the novel showed Black Jack and Jamie dueling. A set report from Scotland Now indicates that the show will likely follow the book in that particular area. Viewers will have to hope that the fight will be a positive thing for Jamie’s mental state.

“Outlander” Season 2 premieres Saturday, April 9, at 9 p.m. EDT on Starz.